FEVICOL

Report made by:

Esther Mary Johnson

Harsh Shah
Taniya Nagpal

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 Table of contents:

Serial number Particulars Page number

1 Title 1

2 About the company 2

3 Types of Fevicol Products 4

4 History 5

5 Core Benefits and Costs 6

6 Overview of Adhesive Market in India 8

7 Competition 9
8 About the Logo 10

9 Branding Strategy 11

10 How Fevicol created its Own Segment? 13

11 Consumer Pulse 14

12 International Presence 18

13 Integrated Marketing Communications 19

14 The Road Ahead 21

15 Recommendations 22

16 Conclusion 24

17 Bibliography 25

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 "Fevicol ka mazboot jodh hai, tootega nahi" "Dum laga kar haisya, zor laga kar haisya";
does these lines ring a bell? I'm sure it does! Fevicol is one of the very few brands that enjoy the
status of not only being a successful commodity but also to be synonymous with the category of
product which it represents.

Loved for its superior quality, ease of

application and iconic advertising,
this synthetic resin adhesive has
made its way to the hearts and
minds of millions.

Fevicol is a polysynthetic resin adhesive which is used to bond wood, cork, laminate, plywood and
other services. Owned by Pidilite Industries, it was established in 1959 by the Parekh Group. It
had become the carpenters' "preferred choice". Pidilite Industries claims to be the leader in
adhesives and in the sealants market (India), boasting an annual turnover of around Rs 6,048 crores
in 2018-19. Whereas, Rs 2776 crores was the total income of Fevicol which is around 45% of the
total Pidilite's revenue.

Fevicol has become a generic name in the adhesive category which is sold in more than 80
countries and is very much a familiar sight in the Indian households. The reason for it getting
launched, was that it primarily meant to be used as a glue for wood related activities and secondary
uses which included applications in flooring, upholstery, footwear etc.

Thus, the biggest bond of Pidilite is through the family of products from Fevicol. The brand has
introduced many innovative products which has transformed the way carpentry trade operates in
India and also in the countries and places it is associated with.

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Types of Fevicol products
Pidilite has many types of Fevicol products. Following are the few popular ones:

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History

Balvant Parekh, widely known as the Fevicol man, had launched Pidilite Industries in the year
1959. This is a company that went on to become a giant which is synonymous with the adhesives
of the Indian market. Balvant was born in a small town which was situated in Gujarat's Bhavnagar
district. He went to Mumbai to study law
and by leaving the studies midway, he
joined the Quit India Movement
launched by Mahatma Gandhi in
Gujarat. Post that, he had returned back
to Mumbai to finish his education which
he left mid-way.

After acquiring the lawyer's degree, he

was highly reluctant to practice law
owing to the excessive lies and unfair
practices the profession demanded. In
Mumbai, life was initially tough. He
began working at a dyeing and printing
press and then worked as a peon in a wood trader's office. During that period, an investor
recognized Balvant's talent and with the
help of the investor, Balvant started to
import areca nut, cycle, paper dyes from
the Western countries. He then
eventually launched his own company
named Pidilite with his brother Sushil
Parekh. This company was then started
with one factory producing just one
product, that is Fevicol. Then Fevicol
went on to build a bigger monopoly.

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Core Benefits and Costs

Total customer benefits that Pidilite gives are as follows:

1. Image Benefit - A synonym for 'glue' or 'adhesive' in India, is now profoundly known as
Fevicol. Its reliability, quality and durability is what people relate it with. Be it a student
or a carpenter, whosoever is using Fevicol feels that they are using the right brand as
adhesive as it delivers what it assures off. It is not only easy to apply but it also gives
satisfaction to the person on the receiving product after its application.

2. Personnel Benefit - The finest adhesive in Indian market is Fevicol with a major market
share. The bonding strength, its impact, the resistance it provides with and the time to set
is considerably less compared to other adhesives. It is thus reliable and saves a lot of time.

3. Product Benefits - Fevicol comes in different sizes of packaging for different uses. It thus
makes it very convenient for the customers to choose the size based on the requirement.
There are two variants of fevicol which are as follows:

• "Fevicol MR" is used for bonding paper, thermocol, cardboard, wood, plywood and fabrics.

• "Fevicol SH" is a synthetic resin adhesive intended for all the wood related work and for
various other materials where one of the surfaces to be bonded is porous in nature.

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Total customer costs are as follows:

1. Monetary cost - Fevicol is one of the most economical brands. With a variety of sizes, for
each size the price is very reasonable (for example: 1 kg is priced approximately at Rs
150).

2. Time cost - Fevicol products are very easily available in the stores. Due to easy availability
and accessibility, there is no time wasted to locate the stores.

3. Psychic cost - Psychic cost is the cost imposed on a person in a form of stress added or
unhappiness. Fevicol, as it is varied in packaging, it is portable, it is nontoxic and it is value
for money, there is no psychic cost incurred as such.

So, marketer can increase the value of the customer offerings by raising economic, functional or
emotional benefits and reducing one or more costs.

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Overview of Adhesive Market

As per the TechSci Research report, “India Adhesives Market By Technology, By Type, By End
Use Industry, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025’’, the adhesives market in
India is forecasted to cross US$ 1.3 billion by the year 2025, on account of the continuous growing
of the building and construction sector, the rapid increasing demand for packaging materials in
food & beverage (F&B) industry and the growing furniture industry. Growth in Indian adhesives
market can also be attributed to macroeconomic factors such as the increasing population base, the
rising per capital income and the rapid industrialization. Moreover, the rising advancements in the
technology have led to development of much advanced and hybrid adhesives that have excellent
flexibility and bonding strength even under a wide range of temperatures. With the rising
awareness about different types of adhesives and their applications in various end user industries
is projected to boost the demand for adhesives in India during 2016-2025.

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Competition

Fevicol currently has around 70 percent market share. The rest of the market share is captured by
its competitors – Falcofix, Bluecoat, Vamicol & Araldite, part from many local brands in the
unorganized segment

Pidilite is the dominant player in India’s adhesive market with a majority market share of around
70% (as per 2018) in its leading brand categories (Fevicol) in the said organized segment. There
exists some local as well as foreign players in India, who do not have their core product as
adhesives but the adhesive products are a part of their product portfolio. Faber Castell, Elmer’s,
Mod Podge, etc. are the competitors of Fevicol MR specifically and Falcofix, Vamicol, Araldite
are the competitors of Fevicol. The competitor brands for both Fevicol and Fevicol MR are also
trying to come up with new as well as innovative product packaging just like Fevicol but their
focus on advertising is not much in comparison with Fevicol.

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About the logo

The iconic Fevicol logo was created in the ’70s by OBM’s (then Ogilvy, Benson and Mather)
designer M. Swaminathan. At the time P. N. Sarma was the head of the agency. The idea was to
create something that’s visually easy to register and recall. It says that as Fevicol is applied, even
the two elephants cannot pull themselves apart. The two elephants have been stuck to the brand
since then. The logo also has Magdeburg hemispheres.

Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of copper hemispheres which are large in size and mating rims.
These were used in order to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. On sealing the rims
with grease and pumping the air out of vacuum containing sphere, the hemispheres could not be
pulled apart.

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Branding Strategy

The twin approach adopted by Fevicol is as follows:

1. To engage effectively with the core target audience which is the carpenters

Connecting with the core segment – The carpenters

Apart from maintaining a very good product quality, what helped Fevicol anchor its place as the
ultimate adhesive was its close relationship and connect with the carpenters. Unlike most
competitors – comprising of small-scale local manufacturers as well as multinational brands like
Movicol who marketed their
products through the timber
markets and hardware stores.
But on the other hand, Fevicol
directly approached the
carpenters and this turned out
to be the game changer move
for Pidilite and helped Fevicol
anchor its place in the
adhesive segment.

Fevicol has successfully managed to build this strong relationship with the carpenters and its end
users through various programs. Pidilite’s Fevicol Furniture Books, was used to showcase
carpenters the current styles & trends in furniture market, and helped the company build awareness
for the brand.

The Fevicol Champion’s Club (FCC) is another such initiative which is aimed at creating a
platform for the carpenters to help increase their social contacts and also to help them be a part of
the social network through various activities that focus on uplifting their daily lifestyle. Activities
such as, FCC Maha Milan (a networking opportunity for various office bearers of various
chapters), Swatch Bharat Abhiyan, blood donation camps, free dental check-ups & celebrations
during festivals have been organized under the FCC initiative. There are around 380 such clubs
which has over 40,000 members.

In the year 2014, Fevicol came up with a unique PAN India initiative under the FCC, Shram Daan
Diwas wherein more than around 30,000 woodworkers and contractors repaired and refurnished
furniture in the government schools and in local NGOs which was free of cost to mark the day.

2. To create the advertisements which are targeted towards the retail segment

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Winning hearts through humour

The witty commercials of Fevicol played a very important role in making Fevicol a household
name with tremendous brand recall. The advertisements were so successful because of the
innovation added into it, that they managed to make an adhesive product into an FMCG item.
Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) has been handling the Fevicol account since the 1970s and for over the
past 20 years, they have together bagged more than 99 awards (which includes Cannes, Abby,
Asian Ad awards & Clio to name a few). The strategy adopted by O&M for Fevicol was to make
the bonding of a Fevicol attribute and the agency successfully used the mix of intelligent humour
to convey this meaning. For the Fevicol adverts, O&M has won the Campaign of the Century
Silver at the 2000th Abby Awards.

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How fevicol created its own segment?
Pidilite laid its foundations in an innovative matter in the form of Fevicol which was a synthetic
white resin adhesive. Its introduction to the market meant freedom from the cumbersome animal
fat glue which was previously used for all wood related works. Since then till this day, Fevicol
remains to be the first choice of the carpenters. They kept innovating their products to suit into all
diverse markets in India and even reach out globally.

Fevicol was able to stand out differently because of the following reasons:

1. Easy to apply

It’s the main USP of the brand. It was a big relief to the carpenters who were used to that smelly
animal resins (which had to undergo the boiling process before it was used) and also the starch-
based glue. It was found that the new substitute to these natural products which caused a lot of
inconvenience was non-smelling and was much easy to use. It gave excellent bonding quality.

2. Direct marketing initiative

With the innovative and catchy advertisements, Pidilite managed to create a very deep emotional
bond with its end users. The company’s strategy was to make Fevicol as the only name associated
with adhesives. They organized various shows and seminars to educate them about the adhesives.
They even distributed cassettes and books which had fables about the artisan God Viswakarma.

The Fevicol Champion’s Club was also a part of this noble initiative. Once a year the members of
this would donate a day’s labour free of cost, to repair and mend furniture at school for
underprivileged children, hospitals or even NGOs.

3. Advertisements

Be it any sector, the story behind it is to portrait create an unbreakable bond.

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Consumer pulse

Throughout the time, Fevicol introduced

many ads that hit the consumer pulse and
has run successful marketing campaigns

The execution of the idea and the theme has

resulted in a series of wonderful adverts,
some of which have become case studies in
themselves of how to make an idea click in
the form of ads that have underlined time
and again the axiom in advertising, which
says that the core theme and idea should
remain intact as the adverts, grows with
time.

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On top of all the online ads, the Facebook home page talks enough about how well Fevicol uses
social media as a platform to advertise (most of it in a humorous way!).

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International presence

Pidilite, the Rs 6,000 crore company, is one of the leading makers of adhesive and construction
chemicals in India. Its flagship of the adhesive brand, Fevicol, has a strong brand equity and recall.
The company has a vivid history of nurturing brands across various categories of consumer
adhesives.

The market dominance of Fevicol and M-seal brands is near monopolistic with more than 70%
market share. Besides India, Pidilite has also focused on growing business in Bangladesh, Egypt
and Sri Lanka. With exports to more than 80 countries, it has a vast global presence.

• How It Began in Sri Lanka?

Pidilite Lanka Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture between Pidilite and Macbertan Pvt. Ltd. strengthened its
presence, unveiled a new adhesive manufacturing plant in Polgahawela in North Western Province
of Sri Lanka.

Pidilite Lanka Pvt. Ltd. had earmarked over Rs. 200 million as an investment initially towards the
plant. Spread massively over four acres of land, the plant further strengthened Pidilite's position in
the adhesive market in Sri Lanka and helped enhance its market share.

Pidilite, which is one of Asia's leading adhesive and construction chemical companies began its
journey in Sri Lanka 12 years ago and today, Sri Lanka stands as one of Pidilite's key global
contributors.

In 2015, Pidilite Lanka acquired Chemifix, which was Sri Lanka's then leading white adhesive
brand in the wood working, stationery and industrial segments of the country. Pidilite reflected
that the company's objective is to become even more customer centric and performance oriented
organisation in the country of Sri Lanka.

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Integrated Marketing Communications

The traditions and culture of India is being exploited through advertisement done by Fevicol
though the product has developed fantastic brand recall and synonymous with majority of
products.

The brand has promoted itself as a mantra of high quality and bonding provider to the customers
by providing worthiness of the money they invest in the product with solid solutions.

Brand recall, high awareness and high customer loyalty is enjoyed by Fevicol. Following figure
explains the same:

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The Road Ahead
Analysts opined that the volume growth would be more important for Fevicol as they move
forward since the company had increased its prices to counter the rising raw material costs. When
focusing on the semi-urban and rural areas, they could open up newer revenue streams through
more volumes for Fevicol, they added to the sources. However, the main threat Fevicol faced was
from the unorganized sector, which was growing rapidly. Commenting on the competition,
Madhukar B Parekh, Managing Director of Pidilite said that, “As for competition, at any given
time, there will be brands which will be priced lower than ours in the B2B space. That is all the
more reason why we try and differentiate our product and build trust even for a low involvement
category.”

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Recommendations:
The brand has built strong brand equity through product and market innovation as seen through its
audit but it still lacks in few areas which can be improved for the brand.

1. Diversification into other types of adhesives:

• International brands like Mod-Podge and Elmer’s emerged in Indian market and have
potential to become competitors to Fevicol in the near future. Thus, they should diversify
their offerings in similar segments should thus, enter into their segments.
• Other existing local players serving office supplies are also looking forward to enter the
adhesive business which would inturn result in increased competition. So, the company has
to look after these market segments as well to maintain their market share.

2. Presence in the Online Space:

• Usage of more appropriate and popular mediums of marketing should be encouraged to

promote the product more aggressively, rather than opting for traditional retail services
provided online. This will help the firm to create a wider reach amongst the crowd.
• Market research is the most important aspect for any business today, and targeting the
consumers via digital mediums by providing customization can actually help the firm grow
in it's upfront.

3. Focus on Fevicol MR:

• As the brand caters more demand from furniture industries through carpenters the company
approaches to households, offices and schools as they see potential of covering this
segment and expand their market share though, others brands are offering much lower
prices as compared to Fevicol.
• To cover this market to maximum limits the company can put forth demos, usage and other
short explanatory teaser promotion to expand customer base. Also, this will help the brand
to create customer engagement via online portals and raise awareness. Other major reason
to expand the sector is downfall of construction sectors.

4. Communication of Innovation:

• The company fails to promote and communicate new innovations in product and
packaging. Thus, a strategy to communicate upcoming changes should be more efficiently
designed.

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• For example, Nestle’s came up with a new 3D straw for their single packaged product
“Milo”. The main motive of this advertisement was just to show the unique feature for their
product.
• In current scenario, there is no major competition to Fevicol in India. Though there was
Bluecoat which had potential to eat up Pidilites market share but Pidilite acquired it later
to remove competition.

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Conclusion:
Be it religious, social or the moral values, each one of them are far stronger and decisive in the
societies like India and that is where brands like Fevicol score by appreciating the difference and
they play according to those rules. They know who their target consumers are and hence they set
up the commercials with elements that are easily relatable for their target audience. The humor is
the constant feature in each commercial that entertains the audience even after repeated viewing
and thus discourages people from switching channels. Being an adhesive brand, its qualities are
communicated very effectively through symbolic instances through the commercials. It should
also be mainly noted that irrespective of its positioning, it has been able to make a mark and build
a brand that is recognizable by everyone in the market. So even if someone might never use it, but
still would know what it is and would continue to enjoy the entertaining commercials. This has
ultimately led to a healthy word of mouth publicity and would also be helpful if it diversifies into
some other sector in the near future, as the brand Fevicol is known to all.

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Bibliography

1. www.pidilite.com ›

2. http://anoopsaini16.blogspot.com/2014/07/customer-value-fevicol.html

3. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/adhesive-sealants-market-421.html

4. https://www.techsciresearch.com/news/2108-india-adhesives-market-to-cross-1-3-billion-
by-2025.html

5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anuraghunathan/2016/09/22/indian-maker-of-white-glue-
adds-800-million-to-his-net-worth/#461b777842fd

6. https://www.kenresearch.com/metal-mining-and-chemicals/chemicals/india-adhesive-
market-research-report/4476-101.html

7. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/pidilite-glued-firmly-to-the-growth-
path/articleshow/66892279.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm
_campaign=cppst

8. https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pidilite-strengthens-international-
presence-unveils-adhesive-manufacturing-plant-in-srilanka-118071700377_1.html

9. https://images.app.goo.gl/c3MfC7AejWzuVvrh9

10. https://images.app.goo.gl/rDxY3WKyhWFEkKH89

11. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/fevicol-is-one-of-the-most-iconic-brands-
marketing-essay.php

12. https://toughnickel.com/industries/Marketing-Insight-Brand-Audit-of-Fevicol

13. https://www.facebook.com/pg/fevicol/photos/?ref=page_internal

14. https://brandyuva.in/2018/04/history-behind-37-brand-logos-which-have-animal-
character.html

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